Teen Titans: Surfacing Shadows (Season Six)
by Nikkisha16
Summary: The Teen Titans face their greatest threat when an old nemesis returns armed with a deadly plan and a league of villains. Now, all the Titans around the globe must join together to fight. Finding new friends, forming new alliances, and battling new villains, this time the heroes will have to save not just the world but also themselves. (SLOW UPDATES)
1. Episode 1

Hello to all!

Before we begin, I'd like to give you guys some background info. This story is based on the _Teen Titans_ television series; that is the reason why it is called "Season Six" and the chapters referred to as episodes. _Surfacing Shadows_ also includes events from issues of the comic _Teen Titans Go!_―indeed, a lot of material (mainly settings/locations) will be included in this fan fiction. And, of course, material from the original DC Comics shall be utilized as well.

I will always specify at the beginning of each episode how much time has passed since the last one. Per my own calculations―which eerily match up with how long the show ran―the Teen Titans have been a team for nearly three years, from the year 2003 to the year 2006. This sixth season will, like the five before it, have a major plot line and several unrelated episodes.

As to ships, there will be a ton. Here are some major ones from the show and comics: RobStar, BBRae, CySarah, Flinx, and JeriKole to name a few. And this is just the first season of many to come! Since they don't give you nearly enough space for a proper description, here's the brief summary:

**The Teen Titans: Cyborg, Beast Boy, Raven, Starfire, and Robin. They've been a team for nearly three years. In that time, they have defeated super-villains, saved the world at least twice, and begun to create a network for young teenage heroes across the globe. But the five have also become a family as they've each shared and come to terms with their own pasts.**

**Well, each except Robin.**

**As the Boy Wonder works to build new Towers and new teams nationwide, Slade returns to Jump City and to his role as Deathstroke. But when the villain reveals his new league of cohorts, Robin is forced to call home for help, which means enlisting Batman and the entire JL's assistance. And he's not the only ex-sidekick Titan with a bone to pick.**

**Meanwhile, Beast Boy and Raven could finally get around to admitting how they really feel towards one another if the empath can keep her powers under control, Cyborg is spending time with his new lady friend who may or may not be the reincarnation of his warrior love from the distant past, and Starfire's family dilemmas are escalating into an interstellar war.**

**Outside the founding five: Speedy continues his cat and mouse game with Cheshire (unsure of who's who), Jinx finally wants to settle down, Pantha looks to recruit more honoraries for the south branch, Jericho hides a secret about his origins, Red X decides to start playing the hero again with the Bat Family for his own unknown reasons...**

**And Deathstroke works on perfecting his conscious converting concoction that will change civilization completely.**

**Try saying that one five times fast, and then watch―**

**_Teen Titans: Surfacing Shadows_**

Enjoy!

- Nikkisha16

_Disclaimer: The Teen Titans featured in_ Teen Titans: Surfacing Shadows (Season Six)_ are owned by DC Comics, and this is a fan-made extension of the TV series produced by Warner Bros. Animation and created by Glen Murakami._

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><p><strong>It's late June (some weeks after Beast Boy's fifteenth birthday) and only a month since the Titans saved Brushogun in Japan. Happy and relaxed is where our story begins, but that doesn't mean it will be where it ends…<strong>

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><p><strong>Episode One: <strong>**"Shattered"**

_When Raven's mirror—and mind—shatters, who will be the one to help her pick up the pieces?_

A storm was brewing in Jump City, keeping villains and heroes inside. On the island just off the city docks, there stood a large T-shaped tower. It was owned by a team of five skilled and powerful teens that were charged with keeping Jump City's citizens safe. Called the "Teen Titans", they did their job, and they did it well. The city—and, at times, the world—had been saved on numerous occasions by the Titans, but as of late the dangers were not as widespread. Their most recent large-scale mission had taken place several weeks ago, when the five Titans had traveled to Japan and taken down a secret criminal organization that had been posing as the police force. Since then, life had been moving at a slower pace—or at least, as slow as life could move when you were a teenage superhero.

Today, most of the team was gathered in the Main Ops Room, as usual. Beast Boy was engaged in fierce combat with his fellow Titan and best friend, Cyborg. Their battleground was the television; their weapons were controllers; their fates were imminent.

"Booyah!" Cyborg cheered as his opponent's avatar was defeated. "And the grass stain gets wiped by me yet again!"

Beast Boy sulked, glaring at the screen which continually flashed the "GAME OVER" sign. "There's no way you could always win—you have to be cheating!"

"Nope," crowed Cy, his grin stretched wide. "It's all natural skill when it comes to dominating _Super Ninja Fury 4_!"

"You're 'natural skill' is half-computer, dude!" the other Titan complained, his face set in a square frown of extreme discontent.

Cyborg was now frowning as well. "What, you trying to call me unnatural or something?"

"No, I'm trying to call you a cheater!"

"Oh, yeah? Well _you're_ just a sore loser!"

The argument grew as the two butted heads, and though their other friends were accustomed to their frequent fights, one felt it was getting out of hand. "Please, friends, let us all do the calming down," Starfire pleaded, her green eyes wide. "Arguing is not healthy for a strong friendship."

"Sure it is, Star," Robin replied, who was sitting on the kitchen counter to keep a close eye on the Tamaranean princess's latest culinary masterpiece. "All friends argue, some more than others. It doesn't mean they like each other any less."

The redhead sighed as the green shapeshifter and cybernetic human continued insulting one another in the background. "You are right, Robin. The Rekmas will not occur because of one 'chicken-like' fight, yes?"

"Uh, I think the word you're looking for is _paltry_," her masked boyfriend corrected, flinching as Starfire's "meal" let out what sounded suspiciously like a burp.

She turned to face Robin before smacking the yellow-green mixture into submission. "I do not understand. Please, do both words not have the same meaning?"

The Boy Wonder's explanation was cut short as Beast Boy literally _weasel_ed out of Cy's chokehold to shout, "Hey, where's Raven, anyways?"

Starfire gasped as Cyborg managed to grab hold of the green Titan again. "Oh my, she is not present? I must retrieve her so that she may try my blaach tails! Boyfriend Robin, could you stir them so that I may go, please?"

"...sure thing, Starfire..." Reluctantly taking the slightly smoking wooden spoon she handed him, Robin shuddered as Star flew towards the main door. Before she arrived, a splitting scream vibrated through the Tower as a surge of black energy coated the entire Ops Room before they were all plunged into darkness. Dropping the spoon, Robin bent in two and yelped, "Raven!"

"Robin, are you alright?" asked Starfire's worry-filled voice.

Cyborg cut in. "Yo, Star, mind giving us some light?"

The green glow of two starbolts began to light up the room at his words, and Cy quickly walked over to a Tower control unit—a rectangular box beside the door which had a large green handprint to the right below its screen—and pressed his hand to it. His left eye glowed faintly before he turned around to address the rest of the team. "Main power's down, but the backup generators should be kicking in at any minute. Storm's heading off, too."

Robin put a lid on Starfire's food before approaching the others. "Raven caused this, somehow. I felt it in—in my mind."

"Wasn't an electrical surge, that's for sure," Cyborg replied. "And you and Rae do share a bond after she went inside your head that time." [1]

"So, what're we waiting for? We have to go find her," Beast Boy spoke up, vaulting over the couch and climbing the steps to stand beside his friends.

As soon as he stopped speaking, a hum filled the air as the lights turned back on. The sensors at the door recognized a presence, and opened accordingly to show a cloaked figure on the other side. Everyone stared as Star cautiously approached, a worried smile on her face. "Friend! It is wonderful to see you safe; please, what has—"

Suddenly, a light gray hand shot up from the depths the crimson cloak, and a bolt of dark energy surged forward to strike Starfire in the chest, launching her backwards into the couch. The others barely had time to react before black tentacles writhed out, slithering along the floor to grab the remaining Titans and have them follow Starfire's path. The girl had recovered enough to catch Robin, who she quickly set down beside her as Beast Boy and Cyborg scrambled to their feet.

"Dude!" Beast Boy complained, rubbing his messy dark green hair. "That was _so_ not cool!"

"Please, Friend Raven, tell us what ails you," Star begged as the red figure levitated closer, hovering over the steps.

"Uh, guys?" Cyborg said. "I don't think that's Raven."

"Then who is it?" Robin asked, whipping out his bo-staff and crouching into a defensive position.

A sinister laugh sounded as the hood was pushed back to show a face that was exactly like Raven's with one terrifying deformity: four narrow red eyes. The red-cloaked Raven grew taller, a malicious grin spreading across her face as her cloak parted to reveal a shifting darkness in the place of a body. Beast Boy's emerald eyes went wide in recognition as he answered Robin with, "It's Raven's Rage."

At those words, the swirling tentacles emerged from the Red Raven's cloak, created a breeze that made the hem ripple. Robin shouted, "Titans, go!" and the four sprang into action as the tentacles struck. Robin whacked away one as he asked, "So is this Raven or not?"

"Yes, please do tell!" Starfire called from above as she weaved in between tentacles, struggling to stay uncaught. "I wish to know if we may use force!"

"This is a part of Rae, so we can't attack her with all we've got!" Cyborg told them as he punched and pounded the tentacles trying to encircle him. "When me and B.B. went inside her head that time, we met all these different parts of her personality."

"And this one is her mean side!" Beast Boy added, shifting into a mouse with a squeak as he darted around the tentacles that stabbed at him.

Robin twirled his staff to keep the tentacles at bay, walking backwards to arrive next to Cy, who had a reprieve. "But how'd this...'emoticlone' get loose?"

"I don't know man, but I'm worried what it means for Raven," replied Cyborg as Beast Boy shifted back to human form to stand between them.

The green boy laughed and said, "Emoticlone's an awesome name for them!"

Starfire landed beside Robin, throwing a few starbolts at the tentacles to make them retreat before pointing at Rage. "I am sorry, Beast Boy, but I do not believe that _she_ likes the name!"

The others' gazes followed Star's finger as the Red Raven's smile turned into a snarl, the tentacles merging together to form four long, thick chains of darkness that quickly surged around the Titans, wrapping around their bodies before raising them off the ground to eye-level. They struggled to get free as Starfire asked, "Please, Raven, why do you do this?"

"It's not really Raven, Starfire!" Robin called as he tried to pry free of his tentacle's grip with his bo-staff.

Beast Boy suddenly stopped shifting into increasingly larger animals, returning to his human form as he stared at the emoticlone. "That's it!" he shouted. "This might just be a piece of Raven, but this _is_ Raven! And even if this is Raven's dark side, she doesn't hate us!"

The Red Raven's snarl disappeared at the changeling's words, and she slowly shrank, the tentacles releasing the Titans as they retracted back into the red cloak. Robin landed neatly on his feet as Starfire gently set Cyborg on his, and Beast Boy fell to the ground with a loud "Oomph!" They all stared as the glow faded from the emoticlone's four eyes, which became two violet ones that glared at them.

"So, uh, Raven—is everything...okay?" Robin asked hesitantly.

"No," came the reply, short and cold, in a deeper version of Raven's voice. "And don't call me Raven; I'm her Rage."

"Well, _Rage_, what was that all about?" Beast Boy grumbled, climbing to his feet with a frown. "You didn't have to drop us from so high up."

"Be lucky that I dropped you at all," Rage snarled, her eyes briefly glowing red. Closing them, she said in a tightly controlled voice, "Trigon's influence may have waned, but it will never disappear."

"Oh, friend, it is joyous that you are no longer angry with us!" Starfire exclaimed, rushing to give Rage a hug. However, the emoticlone raised her hand this time to stop the flying girl in her tracks.

"Don't. Hug me," she ground out, pulling up her hood. "Raven may not hate you five, but I _am_ her hate, and that's all I feel. So don't get confused about who I really am."

The silence rained heavily upon the group, until Beast Boy gave a nervous laugh and joked, "Jeez, Rae—moody much?"

Baring her teeth, Rage started to grow as she growled, "_What did you say?_"

Cyborg, Starfire, and Robin—eyes wide—stepped back and left Beast Boy alone to deal with "Raven's anger" as they always did. The green teen gulped, pulled at the purple neck of his jumpsuit as he babbled, "Well, uh, you said you only had one emotion, but you didn't have it for us, but now you're acting like you do, and it was only a joke!"

Rage's eyes narrowed, but they didn't turn red, and she returned to her normal height. Glaring hard at Beast Boy, who was cowering on his knees, she circled around him, mumbling to herself, "Why can't I hate you? It should be so _easy_."

"Phew, thank—hey!"

Ignoring Beast Boy, Rage withdrew and faced the other Titans. "Raven is approaching, and it is up to her to tell you what happened. I must return."

She turned away and began drifting to the central door, but stopped when it abruptly opened to show a blue-cloaked figure, which stumbled into the room, bent over and gasping. Lifting back her hood, Raven revealed herself as her eyes met Rage's, which were now a set of four bright red slits once more. "Hello, me," the emoticlone whispered before launching herself at Raven, who opened her cloak to reveal a black energy gate into which Rage flew. As soon as her red boots disappeared within, Raven shut her cloak and fainted to the ground.

"Raven!" yelled Beast Boy as the four Titans ran towards their fallen friend. He arrived first and gently lifted Raven off the ground as she regained consciousness. "Are you alright?"

"Not really," she groaned as he helped her to her feet. "I was in Nevermore, meditating, when something...disturbed me."

"Nevermore?" Robin asked.

"My mindscape. I tried to leave, but problems...occurred. My mirror shattered, and with it—"

"Your mind," Starfire gasped, gently resting a hand on Raven's shoulder. "What must we do to fix you?"

"My emotions are out of control, all except for Rage." She shuddered for a moment, leaning heavily on Beast Boy as her eyes squeezed shut. "And even she is not fully reined in. I need to reabsorb all of my emotions."

Just then, the alarm sounded, and on the window-monitor flashed the alert for Sector 13, where a yellow "H" inside of a black hexagon flashed. "It's the H.I.V.E. Five," Robin muttered. "Raven, can you—"

A flash of black lightning jetted out and broke one of the computer monitors. "Sorry," Raven apologized. "I can't control my powers with no control over my emotions."

"And you obviously can't manage on your own," Cyborg said, eyeing how Beast Boy held Raven up. "B, you should stay with Rae while the rest of us take care of the H.I.V.E."

"You're going to leave me alone with Beast Boy?" groaned the cloaked sorceress, frowning at Cy.

"He's dealt with these emoticlones before, Raven. Plus, we'll be fighting understaffed, so we'll need all the _man_power that we got."

"Yeah, that makes—hey!" Beast Boy fumed as Cyborg grinned before taking off with Robin and Starfire, who paused to wish Raven luck. The rain had lessened to a gentle pitter-patter as he shifting slightly to look at the girl beside him and ask, "So, what do we do now?"

Raven sighed, breaking another monitor before she stepped out of Beast Boy's grip. "The best way to go about this would be to reclaim the emotions in pairs, so that the opposites will balance each other."

"Then I guess we're outta luck, huh?" An elbow nudged her in the side as he continued in a sly voice, "Since the opposite to hatred is looooove."

Gritting her teeth, the other Titan managed to spit out in a reasonably calm tone, "Beast Boy, the lid on my temper is really loose right now, so it's not a good idea to push my buttons."

"Oh, right," came the chastised reply as the green boy slowly slid away, only to quickly pop back to her side when she stumbled. "Hey, if you can't walk I'll—"

Surging ahead, Raven said, "I'm fine; let's just split up and find Love."

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><p>Beast Boy walked down the corridor, calling aloud quietly. "Uh, Love? Love, are you around? Gah, I sound so stupid—and British! Almost like when Mad Mod hypnotized me for the bajillionth time." <strong>(AN: What episode is being referenced? Hint: Beast Boy is referring to the time that Mad Mod temporarily altered him so that he spoke like a Brit.)**

He passed Raven's room and then stopped, leaning backwards to eye the door with a mischievous grin. "Raven told me to search _everywhere_, so that must include her room. After all, where's a better place to find a Raven than in her nest?"

Still laughing at his indisputably [2] awesome joke, Beast Boy pressed the panel to open Raven's door and wandered in, wiping tears from his eyes with one gloved hand. When he had finally regained his sight, his jaw dropped at the sight before him as the door whooshed shut behind. The room was lit by wickers of candles, the light flickering off the mystical artifacts and stacks of books, illuminating the usually dim quarters and a pile of debris swept to one side of the doorway. And on the rounded bed's indigo sheets lay another Raven, her purple cloak spread out to reveal the black leotard clad figure that was sinuously stretched out, one arm propping up her head. The hood was thrown back to reveal heavy-lidded eyes and a wicked smile on pursed lips which parted and whispered in a smooth tone, "Why hello there, Beast Boy."

"L-love?" he asked with a large gulp._  
><em>

"In all her bloom," the emoticlone purred, crooking one slim finger to beckon him closer. Blushing bright red, Beast Boy reluctantly inched closer, his gaze shifting from the strange masks on the walls to the potions on the shelves to the purple rug that ran along the length of the room, and quickly darting over Love whenever it landed on her. She gave a soft laugh as he reached the foot of the bed. "No need to be so shy, cutie. I don't bite...much."

Before he could respond, Beast Boy felt the familiar tingle of Raven's magic as Love's eyes glowed white. A hand of dark energy pushed him onto the bed, making the emoticlone laugh again and lean against the ornate headboard. He popped up and immediately scooted backwards, almost falling off the bed as he blurted out, "Uh, I'm not—but you are—I thought you couldn't use magic for anything but levitation."

Rolling her eyes, the Purple Raven unfastened her cloak and folded it beside her on the pillows next to a pile of glass shards, scooting closer to Beast Boy until they were only a few inches away. Crossing her legs, she went into the familiar meditation stance. "Raven may not be able to use magic, but I can. After all, I have no emotions to keep in check, since I am one myself."

Beast Boy looked at her a bit suspiciously. "Are you sure?"

Love rolled her eyes again but was still smiling as she said, "You should know that love never lies. And don't worry, the other me should be on her way any second now—she definitely knows where I am since I used our magic. But still, we have a few moments of quality alone time."

She blushed slightly, and the other Titan gaped at her before saying, "Wow—you sure you're a part of Raven?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" Love asked, twirling a lock of short purple hair as she continued to gaze at him, enraptured.

Beast Boy shrugged, more than a bit uncomfortable with her bewildering behavior. "Well, I know that you emoticlones all represent what Raven really feels, but you're acting as if you actually _like_ me."

"Why wouldn't I?"

He gaped at her. "Uh, dude, have you seen the way Raven treats me? While I know that she doesn't hate my guts since Rage didn't kill me, it's not like she's particularly fond of me, either."

Frowning, Love muttered, "And I guess in some cases it's true that love really is blind."

"Wait, you're blind?"

"No, you idiot," she scoffed affectionately, lightly hitting his shoulder. Clutching the black fabric, she dragged him closer as she whispered, "But there's a lot that _you're_ blind to, cutie. Maybe this will help you open you eyes to the truth once and for all; I'm getting tired of being suppressed all the time."

"Um, Ra-Love, what are you doing...?" Beast Boy's voice squeaked as Love's face drew closer to his, the candlelight glinting off the diamond-shaped gem that lay on her forehead. Suddenly those big violet eyes were drifting shut, and he found his closing as well, his heart pounding so hard he was sure that he was going to collapse from a heart attack at any moment.

Their noses had just touched when she rapidly drew back, cursing softly as Beast Boy heard the door open behind him. He opened his eyes in time to see Love lean forward to quickly peck him on the cheek, murmuring a quiet, "See you later, Beastie Boo," into his ear before she jumped off the bed, grabbed her cloak, and strolled over to Raven, who quickly absorbed the emoticlone. They stared at each other for a few moments, both turning red at the realization of what has almost transpired. The shattering of a decorated bowl quickly snapped them out of their trance, and Raven quickly pulled up her hood and exited the room. Beast Boy hurried to follow her lead.

Once he arrived in the corridor, he had to jog to catch up to Raven, who was quickly floating away. Deciding to avoid the awkward topic of "love" for the time being, the changeling instead asked, "So which Raven is next on the list?"

"Now that I've regained a somewhat stable emotional balance, I can sense that Sloth and Knowledge are nearest," answered the girl, coming to an abrupt stop outside of Beast Boy's room. "And they're in here."

"Really?" he said in shock. "How come?"

Raven snorted softly as she pressed a hand to the panel. "For Sloth, it's because your room is a junkyard."

Beast Boy raised his chin as the door slid open. "I take that as a compliment."

"You shouldn't," came the dry reply as the indigo hood was pulled back. Remembering the Purple Raven's words, he stopped for a moment to actually _look_ at the sorceress.

Her hair was as straight as a pin and very fine, like a woven layer of dark violet silk cut in an angled bob. Her eyes were the exact same shade, shaped like wide upside-down trapezoids and outlined with a thick layer of lashes which altogether gave them an otherworldly appearance. In between two perfectly arched brows rested the red-and-black bindi on her ajna chakra. Her skin was a light ashy gray, but the odd color didn't detract from its clarity and smoothness. Her lips were slightly darker, small (like her nose) but still full, the lower one only marginally bigger than the upper. She used to be a few inches taller than Beast Boy, but now that he'd reached a growth spurt, he had managed to catch up to her height. Though she was usually obscured by her cloak, he knew from his sight of Love that the tight black leotard clung to a petite hourglass figure and showed off long legs while covering slim arms.

Shaking his head as she walked further into the room, Beast Boy mentally scorned the direction of his thoughts. There had to be some reasonable explanation for how Love had acted towards him that didn't involve Raven being secretly in love with him. Just thinking that sounded ridiculous. She had made it clear from the day they'd formed the Teen Titans that she was not the least bit interested in him. And while he might have had a crush on her the moment they had met and she'd found his joke funny, that had been nearly three years ago, and he'd long since moved on.

"Ugh, how can you live like this?" Her question shocked him out of his musings, and Beast Boy finally turned his focus back to the present situation to see Raven eyeing the large piles of dirty purple-and-black jumpsuits with a look of disgust.

Trying to shift back into his usual bantering mode, Beast Boy smirked and said, "Hey, I'm allowed to be a guy, aren't I?"

"You're more like an animal," she snarked back, trying and failing to levitate the piles of clothing in search of Sloth. "Robin and Cyborg's rooms are always clean."

"That's because Robin's a neat freak and Cyborg doesn't need clothing!" he tried to argue, but she shushed him as she leaned over the piles, scrunching her nose at the smell. "What is—"

"RAWR!" yelled a brown-cloaked figure as it burst out of the clothes, making a pair of boxer's land on Raven's head. Laughing lazily, the Brown Raven laid back onto the pile, tilting her head back to grin at Beast Boy. "Hey there, partner. Wanna join me?"

"Uh, nothankyou."

She shrugged, scratching at her armpits as she replied, "Suit yourself. Hey, Rae, how 'bout you hop on in?"

Currently, Raven was slowly peeling the underwear off of her, glaring hard at her emoticlone. "No, Sloth," she said through gritted teeth, flinging the boxers so that they landed on the Brown Raven's face.

Sloth just chuckled and flicked them upwards so that her grin could be seen once more. "If I weren't so apathetic, I'd probably challenge you to an underwear fight."

"Thank God for the small things," Raven said as Beast Boy meandered to her side. "Where's Knowledge?"

"How should I know where that busy bee is?" replied the brown-cloaked girl as she began moving her arms and legs to make a sock-angel. "It takes _work_ to keep track of all these emotions, Ms. Calm Calamity."

Turning to the Titan beside him, the green boy asked, "What did she just call you?"

"It would take too long to explain. Look, can you please just get up and let me reabsorb you, grossness, memories, and all?"

"Sure thing," Sloth said with a shrug, rocking to her feet as she strolled into Raven's cloak. "It was getting to be too much of an effort being out here, anyways."

As the Brown Raven disappeared, the blue one wandered around the room, passing the bunk bed with its rumpled green sheets as she concentrated. Before Beast Boy could interrupt her, she raised one hand and called, "What are you doing in the closest, Knowledge?"

The door in front of her swung open, and some trash and other junk toppled out of it as the Yellow Raven floated there, legs crossed as she examined the wall in front of her through large round lenses. "Hello, Raven. I was just studying the contents of Beast Boy's personal room in order to glean more information about the boy who we are so curious about. There are several interesting photos on this wall that I'm sure—being a part of your personality—you would love to take a look at."

"Ever heard of personal space?" Beast Boy griped, quickly shooing the emoticlone out of his closet before shoving the spilled crap back inside it and shutting the door.

Knowledge blinked owlishly. "As intellectually advanced as I am, I must admit to ignoring morals at times in the search for answers. My decision was not very wise, which is most uncommon for me, and I hope that you can come to forgive me. It's sufficient to say that I would be devastated if you did not."

Beast Boy scratched his head. "Dude, I don't know half of what you just said, but it sounded like an apology, so I'll take it."

Beneath the hood of her yellow cloak, he could see a small "Raven-smile" form before she turned to Raven and said, "For all of your knowledge, I will never be able to figure out why you're so undeniably inveigled by this Beast Boy."

"You use too many big words!"

Ignoring her fellow Titan's grumbles, the blue sorceress responded, "Needless to say, neither will I," before opening her cloak and absorbing Knowledge back into the depths of her mind. Raising one hand, she pointed to the lamp besides Beast Boy's small bookcase and repeated her familiar three-word mantra. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos!"

A surge of black energy coated the lamp before it slowly rose, wobbling for a moment before falling back onto the table as Raven's hand fell. "So, looks like your powers are back," Beast Boy said, his voice still slightly irked from being unable to understand the conversation between her and Knowledge.

"For the most part," Raven agreed, drifting towards the exit. "The balance has shifted to my favor."

"How?" he asked as they started walking down the main corridor. "I thought there were eight parts of you."

"If that was true, I wouldn't be here in my 'original' form, since that in itself has splintered."

Coming to a sudden halt, Beast Boy said in a low voice, "So you're telling me your not really Raven?"

Sighing, the girl turned to face him head on, her voice's usual monotone and somewhat off—but how, he couldn't tell. "The Raven you see and interact with on a daily basis is essentially me. I am Calm, an emotion as well, but unlike the others I am more than just an emotion—I am the one Raven uses the most and thus am the best representation of her. However, in truth I am not, for though Raven's main emotion is me, she has the others as well. But being for the large part Raven herself, I can reabsorb the emotions to become Raven fully."_  
><em>

"So you're an emoticlone, but you're also Raven, which should mean Raven is an emoticlone, but she's actually made up of emoticlones, including yourself as an emoticlone, which means…gah, I can't process this!" The green Titan promptly collapsed, clutching his throbbing head as his brain short-circuited from total and complete confusion.

"That's why I didn't try to explain it," Raven said, offering Beast Boy a hand. "Since I'm five-ninths of Raven, I think it's safe to address me as such, just like the other emotions do."

He accepted her assistance, climbing back to his feet. "So that's why Sloth called you 'Ms. Calm Calamity.'"

"Partially," she replied, continuing down the hallway. "Of course, since I exist on the surface with my full personality and not in our mindscape, Sloth calls the complete Raven by the same nickname."

"What about when Rae's—I mean yours—I mean...the blue cloak turned white all those times?" Beast Boy asked, moving his hands about as he spoke.

Raven turned the corner that led to the wing with the other three Titans' rooms. "That state represents balance and unity of all emotions, of reaching inner peace with myself and being able to express my feelings without losing control of my powers. Of course, the white form can only exist in one of two ways."

"Which are...?"

"No time to explain," the girl replied, holding up a slim gray finger to silence her companion. "I'm pretty sure that Happy and Rude are in Starfire's room. I wonder why the emotions keep seeming to end up in with their opposing emotion."

Beast Boy shrugged before he leaned forward to press the panel at the same time that Raven did, causing his gloved hand to overlap hers as they both paused. Slowly, he pressed so that Raven's palm touched the panel, feeling the ridge of the red-and-black gemstone on the back of her hand dig into his. She shot a glance behind her at him, the slight annoyance fading as she saw the fanged grin and heard him finally reply, "Maybe opposites attract."

Raven didn't say a word as his fingers drifted down the back of her partially-covered hand to fiddle with her dark blue cuff. Those large emerald eyes held her captive, deep and probing and beautiful. She felt her heart begin to race, just like the first time he'd ever held her gaze, and just as all the other times after that. But she buried her newly reclaimed purple emotion, grateful when the gray T-shaded door opened so that she could turn around and say with all her usual sarcasm, "Somehow that's hard for me to imagine."

She felt the shift in his emotions, and was relieved that, for the moment, Timid was not in her mind to make her feel regretful. Raven knew how dangerous her emotions were, whether inside her corporeal form or not, and she couldn't let any consume her, be it Rage or Brave or even Happy: the Puppet King had reminded her of that fact when Starfire's overjoyed spirit had reigned in her own body. She knew firsthand that she couldn't let any emotions get out of control—and that it didn't matter who or how many were hurt in the process.

Trying to regain herself, her Calm, Raven led Beast Boy into the garishly colored room where Happy was currently jumping up and down on the bed. Her pink cloak matched the setting as she squealed, "Hey, Beast Boy, nice to see you again. You've got to join me, it's sooo much fun!"

"Er, no thanks, Happy," he answered with a small but genuine smile. "I'd rather get nauseous the old-fashioned way: riding a roller coaster."

Her giggles made Beast Boy's smile widen. "Good one, B.B.! How about you, Rae?"

"I'd rather not embrace happiness right now except to _absorb_ her," Raven replied, opening her cloak in an obvious hint. Sighing in disappoint, the Pink Raven climbed off the bed, pulling back up her hood—but not before sneaking a wink at the green teen—before skipping into the swirling black gate that led back to Nevermore. "Alright, let's tackle Rude."

"Uh, I'm right here." Both Titans jumped and turned to see the Orange Raven standing behind them with her hand cocked on her hip, crossing her arms as she eyed them up and down with distaste. "And you two think I'm the rude one."

Beast Boy scratched his head in confusion. "But you are, aren't you?"

"And the prize goes to Beast Boy for his astounding observational skills," Rude replied, her voice heavy with sarcasm. "Who could've ever guessed?"

Trying to hold back a smile, Raven said, "Stop teasing him and just get back inside." As her emoticlone complied, the other Titan turned to gape at her. She shrugged, closing her cloak. "It's more enjoyable for me to insult you than to watch it."

"Totally feeling the love, Rae!" She merely ignored him and floated out the door, making Beast Boy grumble about goths and their attitudes as he followed her down the corridor to the stairwell. As they reached the first landing, he finally became aware of his surroundings and asked, "Where are we going, anyways?"

In the fluorescent lighting Raven's face took on an even more haunting appearance. "Brave will obviously be in the gym training, while Timid—"

"Is right here," finished a soft voice, and around the curve of the landing below them appeared a gray-hooded face that chewed her lip nervously. "I didn't think anyone would find me here except...me."

"And me," Beast Boy tacked on.

Raven snorted. "You didn't even know where we were going." The green Titan frowned, but she didn't see or care as she faced her fearful emotion and said in a gentler tone, "It's time to come back to Nevermore, Timid."

The Gray Raven let out a sigh of relief and drifted up to meet them. "Thank Azar, it's awful out here. So many other scary emotions, and people, and feelings, and rooms..."

Timid was still muttering her list as Raven reabsorbed her. Snickering, Beast Boy commented, "Seems like your scared of a lot of things, Raven. Who wouldv'e guessed?"

"Not you," came the dry reply, making him scrunch his nose in return. "Now, there's only one emotion left, so please let's just finish this so that I'll finally be able to have some peace and quiet."

"You know you enjoy having me around."

"I know you're annoying me right now."

"Aw, come on, Rae," Beast Boy whined as they reached the gym floor, where down the hallway the sounds of thumping and grunting could be heard. "I thought we were friends."

"I thought I said _you're annoying me_." He quickly stopped talking as he recognized the growing anger in Raven's voice. He didn't know the cause; however, the sorceress did, and the stress of a fractured mind (added to the reason for that fracture wheedling her every ten seconds) was making her start to crack. Quietly chanting her mantra to calm herself, Raven strode into the brightly lit gym to see another emoticlone with green cuffs and boots viciously attacking the punching bag as if she were determined to knock it off the chain.

Noticing the two figures standing in the entryway, Brave stilled the bag with one hand as she flashed them a wide, reckless grin. "Hey, guys, why aren't you at the battle?"

"Now that I think about it, why didn't _you_ go rushing into the field when you heard the alarm?" asked Raven as she walked into the room with Beast Boy at her side._  
><em>

"Knowledge held me off," the Green Raven grumbled in her rough cadence, walking over to the rec center to grab a bottle of water from the small fridge kept there. She took a few gulps before continuing. "By the time I managed to get around here, the other three had already split, and since I had no idea where they were heading I decided to come here."

"Woah, dude," the boy exclaimed as he came across the soaked cloak of Brave. "You really worked up a sweat."

"Only way to train, am I right?" she replied, holding up a hand for a high-five as the two Titans approached. Beast Boy indulged her, and Brave sent her cloak flying back to her with a careless flick of the wrist. "Anyways, guess it's time for me to head on back home. Maybe next time Raven lets us out to play, we can do a little one-on-one sparring."

He was saved from having to formulate a reply as the blue cloak was swept open and the Green Raven disappeared inside with a little wave and a big grin. As soon as Brave had be reabsorbed, Raven told Beast Boy, "I need to meditate now," before shifting into her soul-self, the black silhouette-ish form a raven, and flying upwards to her room. The changeling was left staring at the ceiling where she'd disappeared, and thinking off all the different parts of Raven, and how even though she needed all her emotions in order to be whole, it seemed she didn't need them in order to live.

* * *

><p>Raven took the now unsplintered pane of glass beside her pillow and set it back into the mirror. Folding her legs, she cleared her mind as the mirror levitated into position in front of her. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos."<p>

With those three words, a black hand surrounded by red energy burst forth from the glass, enveloping her in a tight grip before pulling her soul-self into the mirror and into her mind. Her body stayed behind, levitating above the bed as her soul spun round the red and black vortex until she gently landed on the stone ground, now appearing as her ordinary self. Raven swiftly traveled to the rocky plains surrounding the Forbidden Door, coming to the gathering spot where she quickly summoned her emoticlones. One by one they appeared, still wired from their trip to the outside, and she spoke above the din to Love. "Why did you grab me when I was leaving, Love?"

"Because sometimes you have to face your feelings, Raven," the purple-cloaked girl replied as the others quieted down. "You can't keep us buried so deeply; we've all been to Knowledge's memory library and know how _that_ played out with Timid." [3]

"Tell the other Titans I'm sorry about that again," the gray emoticlone piped up shyly.

"But you all are dangerous," the sorceress argued, ignoring the vicious grin Rage sent her way at those words. "And you've proven the danger in your strength, Love, when you managed to leave with me through the Forbidden Door and disrupt my mental state so that it splintered."

"I beg to differ." The Yellow Raven straightened her glasses before continuing her explanation. "Keeping us repressed in not the same as keeping us under control, and your denial of Love's existence—or, at the least, a large part of her—is what led to the fracturing of your mind. You know that, Raven, just as I know that."

"Why are you trying to deny me, anyway?" Love huffed, crossing her arms as she glared at her blue counterpart. "Are you that scared?"

"Yes," Timid said meekly, and Brave shook her head and muttered to herself underneath her cloak.

Raven gritted her teeth and managed to speak through them. "Feeling too much is dangerous, no matter what the emotion is. Just because Trigon has been banished from this realm doesn't mean his influence is gone. My powers are and will always be bound to you...emoticlones, and that is why I must constantly keep them in check. So I can't go _falling in love with people!_"

Outside of Nevermore, in Raven's room, another pottery mask broke. Inside both mirror and mind, the Purple Raven was still arguing. "But you can't help who you fall in love with, and in this case it's been a long time coming. You always found him attractive, and that's exactly why you always tried to keep him at a distance by snarking on his jokes and actions all the time."

"They really aren't that funny," Rude interrupted with a loud snort.

"My _point_," Love stressed. "Is that you can't deny it, and to deny is more dangerous than to accept. After all, with love comes emotional harmony, which is the goal you want to achieve. A perfectly balanced state that would allow you to feel more 'freely', like with Malchior." [4]

Rage hissed, her eyes burning red, and Knowledge said, "Not the wisest example to use, Love."

"It doesn't matter what examples you use." Raven sighed, closing her eyes for a moment before opening them one more. "I may be in love—and I'm _not_ saying I am—but that doesn't mean I have to act on it."

"Ah, don't give us that sorry excuse!" the Green Raven said as she wrenched back her hood, violet eyes fierce. "You're just afraid of rejection, aren't ya, Timid?"

"Maybe," came the slightly scared reply.

Brave threw her arms into the air. "See?! Why can't you just woman up, be more me, and tell him how you feel?"

"Plus, I'm not so sure—meaning _you're_ not so sure—that he doesn't like you, after that almost kiss between us." A purple hood was pushed back to reveal eyes that were darker in shade and whose plea was obvious. "Why don't you at least try?"

"Too hard," Sloth said, burping in tandem with Rude. Fixing a wedgie, the brown-cloaked girl continued with, "Isn't the guy supposed to make the first move?"

"I'm sure he did when he first met us!" Love yelled, pulling her hair in frustration. "But the boy's bound to give up if we not only show no interest but show _disinterest_ as well!"

Speaking for the first time, Rage grumbled, "Terra."

"That's right! She came in and scooped him up because we weren't trying to land him; plus, you didn't feel as strongly about him as you have ever since the incident with the unnameable dragon."

"I do concede that Love has a point," Knowledge agreed, making the Purple Raven jump up and down in happiness—or, in this case, _with_ Happy. "I think that the smartest thing to do would be to try and open up more to all of our friends like we have been, find more ways to express ourselves without losing control. With Trigon gone, it should be much easier."

"Don't forget to chain me up, too." Rage stepped forward, and all the other emoticlones immediately backed off. "What happens when you actually 'land the guy', Raven? What happens if he gets hurt and you let me loose? What happens then?"

Timid stuttered, "T-that doesn't s-sound very good a-at all."

"It doesn't matter now—all that I care about is returning you back to your domains." And with that, Raven flew out of the forbidden door and back into her body. Setting her mirror away on her occult pyramid with her powers, she finally began to concentrate on some real meditation, shifting her emotions into their proper nooks as she muttered slowly, "Azarath Metrion Zinthos. Azarath Metrion Zinthos. Azarath Metrion—"

A knock on the door disrupted her, and she ground her teeth before walking over and inching it open just enough so that she could see who stood outside. It was none other than Beast Boy. "What."_  
><em>

"Hey, Raven," he began nervously. "So, the other Titans are still out dealing with the H.I.V.E. Five, and I know I get lonely, and even though you probably don't get lonely I was still thinking that maybe you'd like to hang out since there's no one else and you've been meditating for, like, half an hour and—"

"Wait," she interrupted, frowning slightly. "It's been half an hour?"

Beast Boy blushed slightly and scratched his head. "Well, more like five minutes, but it's felt like forever."

"You know I spend hours doing this, Beast Boy."

"Yeah, but you do it around people sometimes, right? So maybe you could just keep me company."

Raven's eyes widened. "You really want some creepy girl lurking around while you do...whatever it is you do?"

"I don't want 'some creepy girl', Rae," he protested gently. "I want _you_."

Her heart thumped, but she kept her face impassive as she replied, "Not much of a difference, but I guess I'll join you since you probably wouldn't stop pestering me if I don't."

"We don't have to hang out if you don't want to."

She finally opened the door completely as she unthinkingly stretched out one hand to touch his forehead. "Are you feeling alright? Because you're talking crazy."

Beast Boy's skin felt warm, but not unusually so. He coughed nervously, and she quickly removed her hand. Rubbing the back of his neck with a sheepish grin, he told her, "I never wanted you to feel like you didn't have a choice in hanging out with me and the rest of us. I...just always wanted you to actually choose me. _Us_! I meant us."

"Oh," was all she could say in surprise. "That was surprisingly understanding of you, Beast Boy."

That fang she knew too well poked out as his face lit up. "Yeah, well, I think I get why you hide your emotions better now, how you have to keep them under control because of your powers. But you told be there were two ways that you could become the White Raven, right?"

Raven's lips thinned slightly as Timid whispered, _Uh oh. _"It's only when I can briefly harness all my emotions for a more ultimate power."

"What about with Malchior?"

Her eyes narrowed. "He was teaching me stronger spells."

Beast Boy's eyes narrowed a tiny bit as well. "That's only one way, Raven. You said there were two."

"I must have misspoken."

"I have heightened animal senses, and you're not doing a good job of lying. What are you so afraid of?"

"I'm not afraid!" she lied fiercely, shirking back as she tried not to panic. "I just need to meditate now."

"But Raven—!"

"_Alone_."

The door between them closed. Beast Boy hung his head in disappointment, not realizing that on the other side, Raven stood with her hand pressed against the door while a whirlwind of papers spun around her as in Nevermore Love howled. She waited until she could no longer feel the changeling's emotional turmoil before finally turning away to begin meditating once more.

Down the hall within his room, the green teen was trying to figure out why he felt so frustrated by how the sorceress had avoided answering his questions. Was Malchior still that much of a sore subject for her? And why did that thought make him so angry? Glancing at his closet, he changed into a fly, zipping underneath the door frame to make it inside without having its contents spill out. Morphing back to his human shape, he stared at the wall Knowledge had been examining—or more specifically, at one of the photos taped to it.

He touched the young woman's image, tracing the outline of her blue eyes. "I wish you were here right now," Beast Boy said aloud even though he knew he was only talking to ghosts. "I could really use some help figuring stuff out."

There was no reply, not from her. But maybe someone who knew him just as well could help.

Reaching behind another picture, he removed the glove from his right hand and pressed it against the panel embedded into the plaster, lowering his arm at the sound of a click and allowing it to swing open. An oval purple-gray device lay inside the tiny compartment, which he picked up after putting his glove back on.

Opening the closet door, Beast Boy groaned as the pile he had gone through such lengths to keep inside spilled out. Ignoring the mess for now, he sat on the lower bunk and flipped open the Doom Comm to call that someone.

It rang for several moments before a gentle feminine voice answered, "Garfield?"

"Hey, Mom."

Thousands of miles away in Midway City, Rita Farr Dayton—aka the Doom Patroller Elasti-Girl—smiled at how he'd addressed her. "Been a while since you last called. What's bugging you, kiddo?"

"Well," Beast Boy sighed and looked down at her image on the screen with a shy smile, "it's about this girl…"

* * *

><p><strong>Alright, it's the end of episode one! Tell me what you guys think, and don't be afraid to be honest; just be helpful if you're being negative. Here's the short summary for the next episode:<strong>

Episode Two: "A Titan's Daughter" - _It's up to the Teen Titans to help a heroine named Nightstar get back to the future _before_ she messes up the past._

**Those of you who've heard of Nightstar from the original DC comics can probably infer what's going to happen. I bid you adieu until then! :)  
><strong>

* * *

><p>[1] Reference to the episode "Nevermore"<p>

[2] It was only undisputed because no one else was around at the time.

[3] Reference to the episode "Fear Itself"

[4] Reference to the episode "Spellbound"


	2. Episode 2

**The answer to the last A/N's question was the episode "Revolution"; now, we continue our story into the month of July, a week after the previous events. Sorry for the obscenely long wait—while I had the bulk of this already written, I could not figure out how to finish it. But now, without further ado, here is episode two!**

* * *

><p><strong>Episode Two: "A Titan's Daughter"<strong>

_It's up to the Teen Titans to help a heroine named Nightstar get back to the future _before_ she messes up the past._

* * *

><p>The girl ran into the Evidence Room and shut the door, keying in the override passcode that would keep it locked for five minutes regardless of outside interference. She knew her family would find her soon, but that would give her some time to come up with a plan.<p>

"A plan for what?" she thought aloud with a snort, pushing back the long strands of curly hair away from her face. "Nothing I do will ever convince them that I'm ready to be a superhero, not even the fact that I made my hero name a combination of theirs: Nightstar. Better than the one Andy chose—how lame is Firewing? ...well, it's actually a direct English translation of his real name, but that's beside the point! _He_ gets to start _his_ training!"

Weaving around the various podiums of villain trophies, Nightstar continued to rant to herself. "I mean, I'm two years older than him! And I'm much better at throwing bolts; Uncle Vic said my accuracy is nearly as good as my dad's. But neither he nor Mom cares. All _they're_ worried about is my apparent 'impulsivity', whatever that is.

"I mean, what are they worried about?" she grumbled as she picked up the golden Clock of Eternity. "I am perfectly capable of handling things in a calm, rational manner. Like this clock."

Right then a knock sounded on the door, and Nightstar jumped in surprise. The movement caused the clock to go flying out of her hands, and she let out an "Eep!" before diving to catch it.

"Mar'i, what are you doing in there? Come out this instant, young lady!" a woman's voice demanded.

Catching the clock with a sigh of relief, the girl whipped her head to glare at the door and yell back, "The name's Nightstar!"

As she turned, her hair knocked into the clock. She stared on in horror as it was swept from her hands and slid across the room before coming to a stop at the base of another podium. Nightstar braced herself for the following explosion, but nothing happened. Letting out another relieved sigh, she crossed the room to pick up the Clock of Eternity as another voice—this one male—yelled from outside the door, "Mar'i Selina Gr—"

"The name is Nightstar!" she yelled again, picking up the clock. "And I'm not leaving this room until you two—" Her sentence was cut short as a golden light filled the air and a loud chime echoed. It's brightness shrouded everything else from sight, and once it dissipated, there was no one (and no clock) to be seen.

The pounding on the door grew heavier as both voices called out frantically for their daughter. But she was no longer in the room.

...or was she?

* * *

><p>It was early in the afternoon at Titans Tower, and the five friends were settling down to enjoy one of Cyborg's brunches. Or at least, four of them were.<p>

"Is there anything in this fridge besides meat?" Beast Boy complained, slamming the door shut and stomping over to try the cabinets next.

"Why would you want to eat anything besides meat?" Cyborg replied, shoveling his food into his mouth so fast his arms became a blur of white and blue. Once finished with his plate, he turned to Raven, who sat beside him. "Gonna eat that?"

"One strip of bacon is enough for me," the girl replied monotonously, and so Cy quickly cleared her plate. Raven just sipped her tea, occasionally sneaking peeks at Beast Boy over the rim of her mug.

Starfire was pouring mustard all over her plate, grinning widely as she finished and sampled a large bite. "You were most right, friends—mustard is much better as a condiment rather than as a drink!"

"Uh, yeah." Robin smiled, choosing not to comment on which kinds of food mustard usually went with. He was just happy that Star was happy.

Beast Boy's stomach growled once more, and he moaned. "Do you guys really want me to starve through training?"

"It's better than hearing you talk," the blue-cloaked girl responded dryly, making the changeling frown as Robin and Cyborg laughed.

"Nice one, Rae," said Cy as Beast Boy grumbled about the lack of sympathy. "Now, if none of y'all want seconds, I'll finish off the pan."

He'd just grabbed the handle when the alarm blared, sending all the Titans on full alert. Cyborg reluctantly set the bacon down and went over to the control unit, checking the panel. "Intruder in the Evidence Room," he told the others as they came to join him, the alarm turning off as soon as it was acknowledged.

"Let's go check it out, Titans," Robin ordered, running out the door as the others followed close behind. "How'd they get in without us knowing, Cyborg?"

"I don't know, man," the other replied as they jogged, flew, and levitated down the levels. "According to the scanners, they just appeared."

"Wait, you mean they just 'poofed' themselves inside the Tower?" Beast Boy asked incredulously. "Nobody can just 'poof' themselves into _our_ tower...right?"

"Nobody that we know of can," Cy answered, his face grim. "And that's what worries me."

"So we have an unknown enemy." Raven's voice was as sarcastic as ever. "Wow, that totally caught me by surprise."

Starfire looked at the other girl in confusion. "I do not understand. Is this not what our days usually consist of? Unknown enemies that we must vanquish?"

The sorceress just sighed as Robin replied, "You're right, Starfire, except this time they made it past all our security measures. Let's not rush into things with this one."

They reached the door to the Evidence Room, and Cyborg opened it silently as they all slipped inside. Only the emergency lights were still on, and even their bulbs seemed to be dying. It was dark, and the Titans split up on Robin's signal to search the room. The quietness was eerie; Beast Boy almost screamed when he turned around and came face-to-face with the cracked mask of Slade. Suddenly, a scuffling sound was heard, soon followed by the crash as several podiums fell to the ground in quick succession.

The Titans immediately regrouped, surrounding the rubble as a shadowy figure rose from the center, groaning. Whipping out his bo-staff, the Boy Wonder pointed it in the figure's direction as he shouted, "We don't know how you got in, but we know how you're getting out. **(A/N: This is a recycled quote using different pronouns from the episode "Betrayal", so who said it originally? Hint: It's not the Titan who's using it now.)** Titans, g—"

"I'msorryIdidn'tmeantoandIdon'tknowwhathappenedsopleasedon'tgroundme!" a girl's voice said rapidly, cutting off Robin's command. The figure raised both its arms in a gesture of surrender as purple starbolts flickered around its hands.

Starfire rose higher, her own hands glowing green. "Sister?"

"Why would Aunt Koma be here?" the figure replied, confused. "Wait, wait—did you bring _everyone_? Oh, Mom, please don't tell me you're gonna make me listen to the whole team lecture!"

"Mom?" all five Titans replied in shock as the lights finally came back on, revealing the figure to be a girl with long black hair whose outfit was identical to Starfire's in all aspects except for metal manica she wore along with the matching plating that covered her legs and midriff. [1] The girl stared at the group with wide eyes: like the redhead's they were a brilliant green except her scleras, which were white.

"Mom?" she repeated, staring at Starfire in confusion. "What happened to you? You're so much...younger."

"What are you talking about, dude?" the green Titan spoke up, shaking his head quickly as if to empty out the confusion. "And just who _are_ you?"

The girl gasped as she saw him. "And you, too? And—" She spun around in place, the starbolts flickering out as she gaped at the Titans. "And—and all of you! What in the name of X'Hal happened?"

"You mention the goddess X'Hal and can produce the bolts of energy like my people." Starfire paused, examining the girl's face. "Are you a Tamaranean as well?"

"Ok, this was a funny joke." The girl started laughing nervously. "Everyone is dressed up. I mean," she turned, pointing to Robin, "You're even wearing your old suit; all of you are! Ha ha ha, that almost fooled me!"

"Uh, are you okay?" Cyborg asked. His expression was one of wary amazement, but it soon changed to shocked suspicion. "Wait a minute, I think we're all forgetting the big picture here: how'd _you_ get into _my_ tower?"

"Like you don't know that I live here, Uncle Vic."

"Uncle?" Both of the young man's eyes widened. "Did she just call me uncle?"

"Dude, I didn't know you're name was Vic," Beast Boy grinned. "I didn't even know you had siblings!"

Cyborg protested, "But I don't! I have no clue who this girl is!"

Robin retracted his bo-staff, running one hand through his spiky hair. "Uh, you said you _lived_ here? In Titans Tower?"

"Well, yeah." The girl frowned, her green eyes narrowing. "Why are you pretending like you don't know?"

"Because we don't know," Raven spoke up, drifting back to the ground and lowering her hood. "How can you live in the Tower if you're not a Titan and if we've never met you before?"

"I am a Titan!" she replied hotly. "Nightstar!"

"Nightstar, huh?" A red cybernetic eye gave her a full body scan. "Not in any of our databases."

"Well, I'm not a Titan _yet_..." Nightstar admitted, looking down sheepishly. "But I will be! If my parents will ever let me train, that is."

She looked at Starfire pointedly, and the redhead looked back in confusion. "I do not understand. Why are you looking in my direction? And why did you earlier refer to me as 'Mom'?"

"Because you _are_ my mom! Why are—" The brunette stopped mid-sentence, looking down at her feet. "Oh no, no, no, no, no! Please don't let this have happened!"

The green Titan waved his hands about as he demanded, "Is anyone as confused as I am right now? What's going on here?!"

Ignoring him, Nightstar bent down and picked up the Clock of Eternity. "Oh, X'Hal," she breathed out, staring at its face. "You all really don't know me."

"That's what we've been saying," Raven said, rolling her eyes. "Now could you tell us why?"

"Because I haven't been born yet." Nightstar raised her eyes to meet Robin's. "I'm from the future."

All the Titans were silent in shock, except for Beast Boy, who was finally beginning to work things out. "So that means that when you said that thing about being Starfire's daughter, you actually _are_ her daughter—from the future?"

"My...daughter?" The Tamaranean walked forwards, coming to a stop just in front of Nightstar. Hesitantly, she reached out and touched the girl's face, their golden skin tones a perfect match. Smiling hugely, Starfire grabbed the other in a bone-crushing hug. "Oh, what a glorious day, to find out that I will have a daughter that is so beautiful and looks so much like me!"

The rest winced in sympathy for Nightstar, but she didn't seem to be bothered by her future mother's strength at all. She just laughed along with Starfire, her grin just as wide when the other finally set her back on her feet, and said, "This is incredible! You look just like the old pictures!" They both giggled in glee, hugging each other tightly.

"Starfire has a daughter." Robin said in a robotic tone, his face slack. "Starfire has a _daughter_."

"Now I see why she called me 'uncle'; yo Nightstar, tell me what I'm like in the future!"

"Do I get any taller? Please, please, _please_ tell me I at least reach 5'6"!"

"_Starfir__e has a daughter_."

Nightstar smiled and stepped back from Starfire, though they kept their arms linked. "Well—"

"Actually, it's probably best you don't say anything," Raven interjected, walking towards them. "The future is a delicate thing, and tampering with the past could effect it in catastrophic ways."

"But she's already here!" Beast Boy whined. "Isn't that messing up the future enough?"

"Yeah," Cyborg joined in. "And what if she's _supposed_ to tell us what the future is like?"

A vein throbbed above one violet eyebrow. "If you two are willing to risk altering the future with potentially catastrophic effects—such as Nightstar never having been _born—_then by all means, go ahead and ask."

The boys immediately closed their mouths, eyes downcast. Robin hung back, still repeating, "Starfire has a daughter," over and over again to himself.

Clearing his throat, Cyborg patted Nightstar on the shoulder and said, "Well, it's nice to meet you regardless, little lady. Now how'd you get here?"

She raised her hand and showed him the clock. "I accidentally dropped this back in the future Evidence Room, and when I picked it back up a golden light flashed. Once it dimmed, I was here."

"Warp's clock, huh?" He took the Clock of Eternity from her hands, examining it. "Must've activated a time rift that sent you back to the past."

"Will you be able to send me back home?" Nightstar asked.

"Sure thing, with a few modifications. Might take a while, though."

The girl sighed in disappointment, and Starfire squeezed her arm. "Do not despair, Daughter Nightstar. While you wait for Cyborg to repair Warp's clock, you can stay here with us! We shall have a most wondrous time."

"Great." Nightstar's expression grew eager and sly. "And maybe you'll even let me have a run through your training course?"

* * *

><p>"Starfire has a daughter. <em>Starfire<em> has a _daughter_."

"Man, you've gotta snap out of it, Robin," Cyborg said, not looking up from his worktable. The two were in the his room as he repaired the Clock of Eternity. The masked Titan was pacing behind him, still unable to accept the fact of Nightstar's parentage.

"She has a daughter, Cyborg! A daughter! And since Tamaraneans don't reproduce asexually, that means Nightstar has a _father_, too!"

"Well, why don't you just go and ask her who her dad is?"

"Can't," Robin muttered, his eyebrows drawn together. "You heard what Raven said. She reveals one wrong thing and bam, the future is changed."

"Well, like _B.B._ said, her presence alters the future itself," Cy argued, turning his index finger into an acetylene torch to weld two pieces of the clock back together. "Not sure how much more damage she could actually do. 'Sides, he's already asked her a bunch of stuff, and she's answered a couple questions. Same goes for me."

"Really?" The other Titan paused in his pacing. "What did you ask her?"

The sound of the flame stopped, and Cyborg lifted his head but didn't turn around. "If I'd ever find a girl who'd love me despite the metal. She told me that there's somebody for everybody."

The was a moment of silence before the welding noise resumed. Robin finally responded, "Well, that question was a waste. Of course you will."

"Maybe, maybe not. But thanks for thinking that. I'm happy with what I got; you'd be too if you'd go on and find her."

Walking over, Robin clapped his hand to Cy's shoulder. "You're right. Thanks, Cyborg."

"No problem, Rob."

Exiting the room, the Boy Wonder let loose a heavy sigh before squaring his shoulders and walking down the corridor. He'd just rounded the corner when he crashed into another figure. Items clattered to the floor as they both fell to the ground. "Ouch! Sorry about that, couldn't see where I was going."

Shaking his head, Robin looked up to see Nightstar extending her hand to him. He accepted it, letting her pull him up with no help from his part. "Thanks. What's all this stuff?"

Bending down, she quickly swept the food back into her arms, juggling the load with care. "Mom wants to make me some Tamaranean dishes. Some things never change."

"She still cooks in the future?"

"Yup," Nightstar replied, eyes twinkling with mirth. "And she still makes you guys eat it."

Robin chuckled, reaching out to take half of her load. "There. Now we can both see where we're going."

"Thanks."

They started walking down the hall, and he wondered how to ask the question. Deciding to start off easy, Robin asked, "So, did Starfire name you, or your dad?"

"Oh, Nightstar's not my birth name," she explained, blowing some strands of hair out of her eyes. "It's just the hero name I took on: a combination of my parents'."

The leader of the Titans felt his stomach plunge. The -star part was obvious enough, but where did the Night- come from? Certainly not Robin. Feeling downtrodden, he decided his question had been answered. "That's cool."

"If only they thought so," Nightstar said, biting her lip. Robin looked at her, curious despite his disappointment, and she glanced his way before continuing. "They think I'm not disciplined enough to be a superhero like them. Gramps lets me train in secret with him and the rest of the Bat Crew when we go to visit, and Uncle Vic helps me practice building up my strength and aim. But despite how dedicated I am to becoming a hero like them, and despite how good I am at it, they still won't let me try. Mom wavers sometimes, but Dad always stops her, saying I'm too young or not ready. But I'm fourteen, which is the same age _you_ were when you guys formed the Teen Titans, and I've lived my whole life growing up around superheroes. Plus, they're letting my little brother prepare, which is totally unfair since he's only _twelve_!"

"Wow, that's really rough," was all he could say as they finally arrived at the Main Ops Room. His brain was still processing all the information she'd given him as they walked down the steps to the kitchenette. Had she mentioned the Bat… "Wait, you have a brother?"

"I am to have a son as well?" squealed Starfire, taking the food from Nightstar's hands and spreading it along the counter. "That is most wonderful news! Please, will you not tell me about him?"

"Sure thing," her future daughter assured, taking a seat on one of the stools. Robin dumped his load next to the rest of the food as Starfire began digging through pots and pans. "Well, his name is And'rlin"

"Tamaranean for 'Firewing'?" asked the redhead as her boyfriend took a seat across from where she worked.

"Yeah, you named him," Nightstar confirmed. "That's what he uses as his hero name. Everyone besides you calls him Andy. His hair's the same color as yours, but he's got Dad's eyes."

"Oh, they are surely a most wondrous shade." Starfire stopped dumping ingredients into a large pot to sigh wistfully. "Do tell me what they are like!"

The brunette glanced towards Robin, who fidgeted on the stool. "They're the same shade as the sky." He froze in shock, the domino mask stretching as his eyebrows rose. Nightstar had just described his own eye color, even though she'd been describing her brother's. But she'd said that her brother had inherited his eyes from his dad; could that mean he—

"Eep!" The clang of the pot's lid accompanied by his girlfriend's small shriek disrupted his train of thought. "The juzlath juice should be ready as soon as the lid stops rattling."

Nightstar clapped her hands together. "Ah, that's my favorite! How'd you know?"

Giggling, Starfire replied, "It was only a fortunate assumption. So, you and And'rlin are half-Tamaranean. Can you both experience the joy of flight?"

"Yup," the girl replied, flicking her hair over one shoulder. Robin noticed the jet black shade and thought, _Same color as mine, but it couldv'e come from her "Aunt Koma", Blackfire_. "We also have your strength to a lesser extent and can shoot bolts. But we can't survive in space without a rebreather, and we lack the ability to assimilate languages through lip contact; however, learning new tongues comes easier to us than to humans."

"Have you been to Tamaran? I know I would take you as soon as I could to met my knorfka."

"Galfore is the one who began my instruction in the use of weaponry," Nightstar said as Starfire poured her a glass of the juice. "We'd spend our winters there and summers in Gotham. The Warlords of Okaara trained both my brother and I for a year when we turned ten. Dad wasn't happy to have us off planet for so long, especially since we must train alone. But after Andy's training, we all went to Tamaran for his crowning ceremony."

"But I gave the title of Grand Ruler to Galfore. How could—"

"Huthru julzath ripnak glastel reznac!" interrupted the other in Tamaranean, gulping down the remnants of her juice. "Turawr!"

"No one has ever asked me for seconds!" Overjoyed, Starfire completely forgot what she had been saying before, filling up the glass once more. Robin looked on as the two started chattering in the loud guttural language of Tamaran. His thoughts were again driven back to Nightstar's father, but before he could ask, the alarm sounded. This time, it wasn't the signal for an intruder. The window-monitor came to life as Sector 5 flashed.

At the same moment, Robin's T-Communicator beeped. He pulled it out and flipped it open to see Cyborg's face on the screen. "Heard the alarm, but I'm in the middle of fixing Warp's clock. I could drop everything and get over there, but then I'd have to start all over."

"It's alright, Cyborg. You stay; we'll be sure to call if we need you." Sticking the communicator back into his utility belt, he stood up from the stool as Raven and Beast Boy entered the room. "Trouble downtown. Let's move."

Starfire turned off the stove, remembering what had happened the last time she'd left it on (bits of zorkaberry pie could still be found in crevices all over the Ops Room), before following her boyfriend to the door. However, Nightstar hung back. Noticing her absence, Robin turned around to ask, "Aren't you coming?"

The girl's sad look instantly changed to one of joy, and she jumped up from her seat. "Oh, definitely."

* * *

><p>When the Titans arrived on the scene, the museum seemed to be untouched. The alarm had been activated by a tripwire, one designed by Cyborg to monitor all of the key target buildings in Jump City so that they could deal with the dangerous crooks without the police getting hurt or getting in the way. All five silently made their way into the building through the roof, and their leader quickly scoped out the surroundings, looking for anything out of place.<p>

Hearing the quiet fizzle of a laser, Robin directed the team forwards with a wave of his hand. Up ahead the hallway they'd been traversing branched out into a large room that held the fossils of numerous prehistoric creatures. Hanging from the rafters above was the skeleton of an _L. melvillei_. Beast Boy stopped walking, fantasizing about transforming into the gigantic whale before Raven yanked him forwards. She covered his mouth when one hand before his yelp could escape, glaring daggers at him until he gulped. At his semi-frantic nod of understanding, she let him go and continued to ghost behind Robin.

A male voice could be heard near the center of the room, and without waiting for the signal, the Titans fanned out into positions; using the Boy Wonder as a reference for the six o'clock position, Nightstar took up Cy's place near one, with Starfire on her right flank and Beast Boy on the other. Finished cutting a hole in the glass, the crook dressed in golden armor reached into the case. "Ah, what mundane systems this century has. It's almost too simple."

"Think again, Warp," Robin called out as the team stepped out from the shadows.

The time-traveling French supervillain just smiled. "Sorry, but I have to be on my way now."

"You're not going anywhere with that fossil you just stole," the masked teen retorted, his bo-staff in hand.

"Dude, what would you want with a bone, anyway?" Beast Boy asked curiously.

Warp gave him a cruel smile. "I'd love to explain, but unfortunately, there's not enough time." Raising one gloved hand, he shot a freeze blast at all the teens, who dodged as Robin shouted their battle cry.

"Titans, go!"

Rising up higher with eyes glowing green, Starfire shot a barrage of starbolts at the villain, who just crossed his arms in front of his face while his armor deflected her attack, sending the energy spiraling around the room. Beast Boy yelped as he ducked under one starbolt, which went on to singe the leg bone of a _T. rex_ skeleton.

"Careful! We don't want to damage the exhibits." Taking heed of Robin's warning, Raven proceeded to shroud the room in a cloak of dark energy, protecting the fossils and leaving the rest of the team free to hit Warp with all they had.

Leaping forwards, Robin lashed out at Warp with one steel-platformed boot. The man blocked the kick with his left gauntlet, thrusting it aside to leave room for him to deliver a punch with his right arm. The Boy Wonder rolled with the blow and immediately sprung back up to swing his bo-staff at Warp, who managed to dodge before blasting the Titan backwards with his forearm-mounted shocker unit.

Beast Boy charged forwards as a triceratops, and ended up acting as a boost when Warp jumped atop the green dinosaur before leaping towards Nighstar, managing to snag her boot and bring the girl back down with him. She shot a starbolt at his face, causing him to release her inches before hitting the ground. Landing gently, her eyes glowed green as purple energy flared around her clenched fists. The villain quickly climbed to his feet, rubbing his jaw with his free hand and a scowl that slowly turned into a grin. "Hmm, it seems that you are several years ahead of your time."

"Just put down the bag, Warp," Nightstar demanded. Robin was slightly impressed at how she refused to be distracted.

Warp sneered, touching a hand to activate the circular blue device on the middle of his chest plate. "So it was _your_ temporal disturbance that allowed me to enter this time stream. I have to say, for being a hero, you're not very good at it."

With a loud war cry, Nightstar jetted forwards as a time portal manifested, managing to screech to a halt just before flying through. Thinking quickly, she shot upwards, neatly flipping over the portal to plant her feet onto Warp's chest. The blue vortex regulator cracked underneath the pressure of her boots, causing the portal to close and allowing her to float backwards as electricity crackled around the supervillain.

"Ah!" he yelled in pain, grabbing the regulator and ripping it off his armor to break the electric current. "Do you know what you could have done?!"

"I know what she did do, and that was stop you," Robin cut in, stepping forward to apprehend him.

Unfortunately, Warp was not down for the count. Quicker than anyone could react, he waved out his hand and froze Nightstar where she stood so quickly that she couldn't even raise her arms in defense. Starfire screamed in anger and dismay, letting loose a blast from her eyes that struck the spot where the man stood. Once the dust cleared, he was lying in the rubble knocked out cold. Robin quickly moved forward to cuff Warp and call the police while the rest of the Titans huddled around their frozen companion.

"Ah, man! She's frozen solid! A Tamaranean popsicle!"

"That would be half-Tamaranean, actually," Raven corrected Beast Boy dryly, her eyes and the room returning to normal.

"I believe that you are doing the missing of the point!" Starfire cut in, her voice high with worry. Unable to melt the ice with her glowing hands, the starbolts flickered out in defeat. "How are we to thaw my future daughter?"

"Don't worry, Star," her boyfriend said, stepping away from the villain to wrap an arm around her waist. "She'll be fine. We _will_ unfreeze her."

A beep came from his communicator, which turned out to be Cyborg. "Yo, man, I got the vortex regulator working. How'd you guys do?"

"Took down the villain, but Nightstar's a bit...unfit for travel." Robin grimaced briefly over his word choice. "Warp froze her in ice, and right now we're trying to think of a way to melt her. Got any ideas?"

"Actually, I do, but I'm not sure you're gonna like it, Rob."

The mask furrowed along with his brow. "Try me."

Cyborg sighed before explaining, "Well, traveling through time may be enough to warm her up, but she shouldn't go it alone. Someone'd have to go with her to make sure she gets where she's going alright. Only problem is—"**  
><strong>

"How the other person would make it back," Robin finished.

"Ooh, ooh, I think I got it!"

"Beast Boy, if it involves giant robot chickens or entering a cheat code, then no."

The green Titan glared at his leader. "Well, for your information, my ingenious plan involves neither."

"Been brushing up on your vocabulary," Raven remarked quietly.

He gave her a fanged grin in reply. "I have, actually." The sorceress was shocked by his reply, and Robin could almost swear he saw a blush in the depths of her hood.

Before he could give it much thought, Starfire cut in. "Please, Friend Beast Boy, tell us of this plan."

"Well, Cy was able to fix Warp's timey-thingy—"

"Vortex regulator!"

"Whatever," Beast Boy scoffed, waving off Cyborg's correction. "My point is that we just have to fix the time vortex thingy that we have right _here_."_  
><em>

There was a moment of silence before Robin said, "That's actually a really good plan."

"Surprisingly so," Raven added. When the green Titan stared at her in exaggerated shock, she just shrugged. "That's as much of a compliment as you can get from me. Don't push it."

"While your plan is most full of the 'awesome', there is a slight problem with the time period." Starfire moved away from her boyfriend to touch one hand to her future daughter's frozen form. "My people have adapted to the cold in order to survive the subzero temperatures in outer space; however, our bodies rely upon solar energy, and thus being frozen is not a safe state for us to be in. And I fear that Nightstar, having only one Tamaranean parent, is less suited to the cold than I."

"Basically, we don't have time to get Warp's regulator fixed," Raven concluded grimly.

"Ain't a problem," came Cyborg's voice from the communicator. "The future me can no doubt fix it, and with the upgraded tech he's bound to have, it'll probably take him even less time than me. Now we just gotta figure out who's gonna go with the lil' lady into the future."

"Well, you can't go since you'll be opening the portal," Robin reminded him, making Cy grumble in response.

"I can go!" volunteered Beast Boy, waving his gloved hand wildly for the Boy Wonder to call on. "Pick me, pick me!"

"Oh, yes, choose the hyperactive one whose bound to destroy something immediately upon arrival," the blue-cloaked girl said sarcastically.

"Oh, and I guess that means _you_ should get to go?"

She rolled her eyes at the green teen and his jealousy. "When I last messed with time, I froze it, and that's definitely not what Nightstar needs."

Beast Boy laughed and replied, "Nice one, Rae!" This time their leader was sure he saw Raven blush. Knowing he didn't have time to speculate about their relationship, he turned to Starfire and raised one eyebrow.

"I have already journeyed through time once," the redhead answered his unspoken question. "And I would rather live the future than visit it."

"Guess that leaves me to travel with Nightstar. Raven, Beast Boy, you two stay here until the police arrive," ordered Robin before looking down to address Cyborg. "Star and I will meet you back at the Tower."

"Sweet." Cy shut down their transmission, and the masked teen slipped his communicator back into his belt before turning to his girlfriend.

"Up for flying both of us back?"

"Certainly," Starfire answered, floating upwards to grip Nightstar beneath her arms. Once Robin had slipped an arm around the frozen girl, she lifted off with ease and glowing eyes. The two remaining Titans watched the trio disappear down the hallway before facing each other. It had been a week since Beast Boy had helped put Raven back together again, and though both pretended as though the incident with Love and the talk afterwards had never occurred, there was a lingering tension between them.

"So…" the changeling began, searching for a safe topic to pursue. "Your birthday's coming up soon."

"Hopefully this one will be better than the last," was all the blue-cloaked girl said in reply. [2]

"Heh heh, yeah," Beast Boy weakly chuckled. "I was wondering what you wanted. Y'know, for a present."

"Nothing."

"Come on, Raven. There has to be _something_ you want."

"Beast Boy, I was raised by monks," Raven explained with a sigh. "They practiced humility, not gift-giving."

He snorted in disbelief. "Which they should be humiliated for!"

To his surprise, a Raven-smile spread across her lips for a fraction of a second before she turned away to levitate in the lotus position. "Azar would definitely not agree."

"Who's Azar?" Beast Boy asked as he took a seat in front of her next to Warp. "You mention him a lot, but more like an exclamation or something."

"_She_ was the spiritual leader of Azarath," the sorceress told him, keeping her eyes closed, "and so powerful enough to be a veritable goddess, which is why I use her name in that manner. Azar was also the one who took in my mother…" Raven silently swore and settled herself back onto the ground, opening her eyes. The relaxed state of body and mind she had been in lead her to reveal more about herself than she had intended.

"You don't talk about your mom much," the green Titan before her commented softly.

"Neither do you," she quickly shot back, determined to keep the attention away from her.

His vibrant green eyes dimmed as he looked down at the floor. "That's cause she died."

Shocked, Raven tripped over her words as she tried to apologize. "I—I didn't mean—it wasn't—"

"Hey, it's okay." He laughed it off, but she could see the pain he worked to hide behind his false smile; hell, she could _feel_ it. "It was a long time ago. And the Doom Patrol took me in, so Rita's my mom now."

Still feeling tremendously guilty for her thoughtless comment, she decided that the least she could do was place the same trust in him that he did in her. "When I was born, the monks knew that I had to be secluded since my powers were tied to my emotions. That meant growing up with no friends, no family, no mother. Once Azar died, my mother took over my training, and so I finally got to meet her…which was nice, yet…it always felt like there was something _missing_. I didn't know how to express my emotions for her, and Arella didn't know how to connect with a child like me. So our relationship is lacking."

"Do you love her?"

She frowned at Beast Boy, bewildered by his question. "Of course I do."

"And does she love you?" he continued.

"Yes." Raven hesitated and admitted in a faltering monotone, "I think she does, at least."

Smiling triumphantly, he said, "Then there's nothing lacking at all. At least nothing really important."

Her heart grew warmer at his words. "Thanks."

"So, you guys have met my folks...any chance we'll get to meet yours one day?"

"You've already met my dad," the sorceress reminded him wryly. "And do you really want to meet the wife of an interdimensional demon?"

The green teen shuddered and quickly muttered, "Never mind." He paused for a moment before adding, "Well, actually, his daughter is pretty cool when she's not being totally angsty and locked away in her room."

He could have almost sworn that he needed to be thawed along with Nightstar from her caustic glare.

_There goes the moment,_ Love said with a mournful sigh.

* * *

><p>"Y'all ready?"<p>

Robin gave Cyborg a thumbs up, and so he aimed his sonic cannon at the rooftop court, firing the beam that opened into the time vortex. He kept it open with effort as Starfire helped hoist the frozen girl onto her boyfriend's back, giving him a brief kiss on the cheek before the masked Titan steadily walked through the portal. She watched as the portal disappeared, starting as four metallic gray fingers gently landed on her shoulder.

"He's gonna be fine, Starfire. They both are."

Before she could reply, the space which the time vortex had once occupied began to cast a bright white glow that stretched out towards them.

* * *

><p>Various clock hands spun round the black and white faces as Robin traveled through the vortex with Nightstar on his back. He glanced around in amazement as he effortlessly floated to a bright expanse of white that was growing even brighter as he neared, until it became his surroundings and flared so hotly that he had to close his eyes. When he dared to look around once more, the Boy Wonder found himself in the Evidence Room.<p>

The podiums were all lined up neatly, no sign of the debris that Nightstar's arrival had caused. Thinking of the half-Tamaranean, Robin glanced back to see her very much unfrozen as she clung to him piggyback with her super strength. Wincing, he rolled his shoulders to loosen her grip, wondering if he'd made it too the future. Where there perhaps more podiums than before? Deciding to enlist the aid of someone from the actual time, he tried to wake the girl up. "C'mon, Nightstar. Time to wake up."

"Just five more minutes, Dad," she slurred in response, making him stiffen. Dad. She had called him _Dad_...but she was half asleep. Still, could that mean—

A loud and familiar war cry sounded from beyond the door before it burst inwards, startling Nightstar awake as Robin set her down to whip out his bo-staff. A tall figure flew over the podiums towards them, and he felt his jaw drop as an audible gulp came from behind at the sight of the tall redheaded woman clad in a way more revealing purple and silver outfit than he remembered, though it was still far from scandalous. [3] "Mar'i! Why did you not…Robin?"

"_Starfire_?" he squeaked, trying to reconcile the teenage girl he'd left in the past with this _very_ grown-up woman.

Nightstar quickly came between them and hurriedly explained, "Mom, this is Robin from the past. Robin, this is Starfire in the future."

"Uh, hi." Robin cleared his throat and awkwardly held out the vortex regulator. "So, um, Cyborg needs to—"

"Eeeep!" Starfire's shriek cut him off as she flew forwards to grip him in a hug that was even more crushing than before. "Oh, how I have missed you, young Robin!"

"Don't I feel loved." As the Tamaranean released him upon hearing the wry words, he looked up to see a tall long-haired man wearing a black armored bodysuit with a blue bird emblem, steel gauntlets, a matching utility belt, and a wing-stylized domino mask. The man grinned at him and said, "Hey, Robin. I'm Nightwing."

"Nightwing? You mean—"

"The future version of you," Nightstar finished his sentence. "Robin, meet your future; Dad, remember your past."

So that's where she'd gotten the first half of her name from: his own future identity. For the guy who'd been trained by the World's Greatest Detective, Robin hadn't been very observant. At least he could deduce from the small smile of understanding Nightwing gave him that his future self knew exactly how he felt, since years ago he'd actually _been_ him.

"Why have you journeyed here to our time, young Robin of the old?" asked Star.

"Nightstar was sort of…unfit for travel."

The redhead's eyes narrowed at that as she turned to the girl. "You did not give him your real name, Mar'i?"

Her daughter sorta laughed and explained, "Well, we're supposed to wear our 'uniforms' in the Tower, so why not use our hero names as well?"

"Because you have not been training to be a hero."

"She has, actually," Nightwing corrected his wife, but didn't get the chance to explain because a young male's voice called out from the doorway.

"Hey, Mom, your stewed grunthmek is starring to burn."

"Eep!" both females shrieked, zooming off in a fiery trail of red and purple. Huh; he'd never seen Starfire's hair do _that_.

"Woah, watch it!" the new arrival complained as Nightwing lead Robin towards him. The boy was as young as his voice yet taller than the Boy Wonder, dressed in a classic Tamaranean garb composed of purple cloth and silver plating. Since he had called Starfire his mother, Robin thought it was safe to assume that this was her—hers and _his_—son, And'rlin. But besides for his skin, he looked nothing like his sister: where her hair was black as night, his was as red as flames; where her eyes were emerald green, his were sky blue. "Hey Dad, and…Dad?"

"Uh, hi," Robin responded with an awkward smile. "You're Andy, right?"

"Uh, yeah." Andy blinked twice before addressing his future self. "What in the name of X'hal is going on?"

"Your sister went back in time, and Robin had to bring her back. Yes, he is my past self; yes, you have to be careful about what you reveal; and yes, you can show him around while I call Vic," Nightwing answered, impressing Robin with his ability to foresee his son's follow up questions. "You can hang on to the regulator for now, Robin."

The Boy Wonder nodded as the man walked off, sticking the regulator into his belt before he turned to face Andy, who was wearing a grin that's wideness was reminiscent of Starfire's. "This is so cool. C'mon, I'll show you around the Tower. It's changed a bit since your day. We have _four_ bathrooms now."

"Really?" Robin asked as they walked down the corridor, heading for the stairwell.

"Yeah. And more rooms have been added for us kids."

"You mean there are more than you and your sister?"

Andy noticed the slight horror on his face and hurriedly reassured, "Oh no, I'm the youngest of your kids. But you and Mom aren't the only members of Titans West."

They passed by habitat rooms, and the masked Titan grinned as he saw that the number of bathrooms had indeed increased from the one unit they currently had—or rather, that they _had_ had in the past? Time travel was confusing; he'd never quite understood the mechanisms of it.

"And this is my room," the other stated proudly as they passed by a door labeled 'Mark and And'rlin'; Robin's brow rose at the first name, and Andy reluctantly added, "Well, it's my room that I share with Mark."

"Whose Mark?"

"He's Uncle Gar's and..." Andy trailed off, eyeing Robin in consideration before deciding to leave it at that. "He's Uncle Gar's son—"

"And standing right behind you," a burly voice said from behind them. Robin turned to see a skinny blonde kid whose prepubescent image differed greatly from what he'd envisioned upon hearing the deep baritone. He was wearing a black-and-purple uniform that differed from Beast Boy's, though the same green eyes stared at him in shock through the purple mask. The boy's mouth dropped open, revealing slightly sharpened canines much duller than the changeling's fangs. "Robin? Like, the _original_ Robin?"

The redhead waved away the question with impatience. "Yeah yeah, you should probably go."

Mark's face turned stricken. "How come _I_ have to go?"

"I probably shouldn't have even mentioned your existence, given the circumstances of how your dad began dating you mom."

"Huh, why would - oh. _Oh_. I see."

Robin's eyes narrowed imperceptibly behind his mask as he tried to decipher what had remained unsaid. Mark's mom would be (assuming the relationship went well and in the traditional order) Beast Boy's wife, who his future son had taken greats pains not to mention by name, and so also someone he already knew. Flickering through the possibilities, he again noted Mark's blonde hair - which had a greenish caste to it - and came up with one Titan who it could possibly be. [4] But her current status was unknown and didn't seem likely to change in any future (or...any present?).

"Well, I'll just hang out in my room," Mark told them, interrupting his speculative thoughts. "Nobody's in the common room besides for Mar'i and your mom."

"Cool. See you later." Turning to Robin with a grin, Andy asked, "How'd you like to try out the gaming system we have _now_?"

"You're on."

Entering the Main Ops Room, Robin was surprised to see it hadn't changed much in the years. The walls and carpeting were all the same, but the computers had been upgraded to a new software he'd never seen before. The other tech was the same, and the kitchen was now mainly stainless steel with a fridge that was twice as wide as the old one. In it were Star and Nightstar, who were eating a piece of pink-crusted pie that had a purple filling stuffed with what looked like green worms. The older Tamaranean noticed their arrival and waved. "Hello, Son And'rlin and Past Robin! You must try our stewed grunthmek—it is most delicious!"

"Ah, sweet, you were able to save it!" the redheaded boy crowed, flying forwards to grab a piece for himself. He looked back at the other male. "Don't you wanna piece?"

Distinctly remembering the time Cyborg had a bite and how he'd run to the bathroom to hurl almost immediately afterwards [5], the masked teen paled and said, "I'm good."

Suddenly the alarm rang out. Starfire's gorget gem began blinking in time to the flashing lights as the woman sprang to her feet. The door in front of which he stood opened to reveal Nightwing, who told his wife, "Trouble downtown. Let's move."

"But what about the children?"

The man hesitated, his gaze moving from his kids to Robin and settling on the later. "Robin, you're in charge until we come back. I'll have Rachel teleport Vic back here as soon as we're done."

"I'll keep them safe," he promised, and Nightwing nodded once before he and Star left. The alarm cut off as Andy settled himself on the couch and gestured Robin over. He walked forwards only to pause as the door reopened behind him to emit Mark and another boy who looked to be Andy's age though he was black and had dark gray eyes.

The black hood attached to the blonde's uniform was drawn, and the newcomer was dressed in a black tank, boots, and fingerless gloves along with a short sleeve jacket, jeans, and bandanna that all matched his eyes. "What's going on?" he asked, doing a double take when he saw Robin. "Woah, is that—"

"Yeah, he's my dad from the past whose been left in charge. Now quiet down, Gail; I'm trying to choose the best game!"

Gail frowned at his best friend as he loaded Super Monkey Ninjas XX: Banana Bonsai Battle. Before he could comment, Mark clapped his shoulder and said, "Mar'i can explain; let's ask her."

The blonde steered the other towards the kitchen as Robin asked Andy in a low voice, "Who's Gail?"

"He's Uncle Vic's son."

His eyes remained glued to the screen as he made his character jump over the banana boomerangs the enemy was throwing. "Ah. Nice to know he finally found someone."

In the kitchen, Nightstar was relaying her tale to the other boys. "—and then I kicked Warp in the chest and cracked his vortex regulator!"

"Awesome!" Gail exclaimed. "I wish I could've seen our folks back in their prime."

Mark was frowning slightly as the story brought a question to mind, "But how come they never said anything about it?"

The older girl rolled her eyes. "You're such a worrywart, Mark. It's probably so they didn't want to put the future at risk. Y'know how your mom is, after all."

"Was my mom there?" asked the youngest excitedly.

"No," she answered, and Gail's face fell. "But we know she'll join them eventually."

Back on the couch, Robin held back a curse as his character fell from the vines and died. Andy laughed as he continued on while the Boy Wonder waited to respawn for the _fourth_ time when something in his belt vibrated. Pulling out the vortex regulator, he examined it as the device shook in his grasp, dropping it when it suddenly turned so hot he could feel the burn through his gloves. It clattered to the floor, burning a hole through the red carpet as it automatically began repairing itself. Bending down, he began muttering, "What the—"

A loud crash cut him off as the glass wall shattered, making Andy yell out in horror as his game was promptly ended. The intruder alert began to sound as a gold plates figure flew inside, a wicked smile in place as he stared down at Robin. "So sorry to interrupt, but I believe you have something that belongs to me."

Snatching up the regulator, Robin stuffed it back into his belt as he simultaneously withdrew his bo-staff. "How were you able to follow me?"

Warp landed on the higher level, shards of glass crunching beneath his boots. "This time I piggybacked off _your_ temporal disturbance. Like father like daughter."

Gritting his teeth, the masked Titan turned to Andy and ordered, "Grab Gail and Mark and get out. Use your communicator to find Nightwing and tell him what's happened."

He used his to shut down the alarm just as the mounted guns were emerging to fire upon the intruder, knowing they would be futile, as the boy asked, "But what about Mar'i?"

"I need her to help me hold off Warp. Now go."

"But—"

"_Go_!"

With tightened lips, Andy flew towards the kitchen. "Mark, take Gail to find our parents. Mar'i, let's help Robin."

The supervillain sneered as the blasted Titan dodged another of his blasts, aiming once more when a blue-colored starbolt hit his chest, knocking him out the window. Robin turned to see the vibrant glow fade from Andy's eyes and demanded, "I thought I told you to leave."

Shrugging, the redhead replied, "No way was I gonna leave my sister behind with no formal training."

"Hey!"

Ignoring the girls indignant shout, Robin decided further argument was pointless and instead asked, "So, your starbolts are blue?"

"We call them firebolts."

"'We' being Andy," Nightstar corrected, smirking at her brother's glare. "Mine are actually called blackbolts by _everyone_." Her cockiness faded as Warp reappeared in the window, his face twisted in anger as a laser blasters opened from each shoulder. "Uh oh."

The three heroes ducked for cover as the supervillain began his bombardment, shredding the couch to pieces. Luckily, they'd taken cover at the edge of the side stairwells, the siblings at one and their future father at another. Robin grabbed some smokescreen bombs and launched them over. Warp raised his shield as they exploded, covering his field of vision. He stepped out of the smoke to see the room empty of occupants and let loose a snarl.

Meanwhile, his quarry was fleeing down the corridors towards the southwest stairwell. "What's the plan?" Nightstar asked as they stopped at the beginning of the stairs.

"Warp's only able to track me and the regulator," Robin explained. "Nightstar, you head for the Evidence Room and grab the Clock of Eternity and call An—Firewing."

"What about you guys?" Nightstar asked.

The sound of footsteps approached. "We'll lead him astray," he answered, his face set in grim determination. "Titans, go!"

Nightstar took off in down the stairwell as the two boys held their ground until Warp came into view. They took off down the hall, and Robin threw a freeze disk on the ground behind them. A thud and string of French curses sounded as the two turned the corner to reach the northwest stairwell. Taking out the vortex regulator and giving it to the redhead, Robin headed downstairs as Firewing flew upwards.

Clearing the icy patch of floor, Warp searched for a signal and found two heading in opposite directions. "I don't have the time for these games," he hissed, tuning his suit's focus to be specific to the regulator. One signal vanished as the second grew stronger, and the Frenchman grinned as he began climbing the stairs.

By this time Robin had reached the Evidence Room, and stuck his head through the door to call the girl's name. Nightstar appeared, holding the clock very carefully. At his inquisitive glance, she merely stated, "Don't want to cause anymore accidents."

"I'll take it from here while you use your communicator to call Firewing. We have to keep moving."

She removed the gem from her gorget and revealed her T-Communicator, taking it out and putting the green stone back in place before she flipped it open and called her brother, following the Boy Wonder's lead all the while.

Firewing heard a beep and pulled out his own communicator in the same fashion as his sister had done, opening it to see her face on the screen. "I'm in position. Where are you guys?"

"Heading for the common room. Robin says to rendezvous with us there."

"Alright, on my—"

The door to the roof exploded, and the blast sent the redhead tumbling backwards as the yellow device rolled out from his grip. "Firewing? Come in, Fire. _Fire_!"

Groaning, Firewing lifted himself halfway up only, coming to a sudden halt since there was a shocker unit held to his face. Warp smiled and said, "The vortex regulator, if you would be so kind."

Flashes of electricity danced around the man's forearm, and the boy knew he couldn't move fast enough to dodge the primed weapon. Slowly, he grabbed the regulator from his belt, keeping one finger extended, knowing he only had one shot. As Warp reached out to take the regulator, a small firebolt shot out from the redhead's fingertip directly into the nozzle of the shocker unit.

The supervillain staggered backwards as it fizzled with electricity, and Firewing was already off, snatching his communicator as he threw himself off the roof, tumbling downwards. At the broken window he righted himself, flying through it and into his sister's tight grasp.

"X'hal, you had me so worried!" Nightstar told him as she squeezed her eyes shut, relieved that her baby brother was safe.

"I'm fine, S'urukori [6]," he promised, pulling away to look at Robin, who was fiddled with the Clock of Eternity. "What're you doing?"

"Almost finished…"

"You impudent brats!" Warp hovered outside the window, smoke rising from his mustache. "I'll rewrite your entire time streams! I'll make sure you are never born! I'll—"

"Be going now," the masked Titan finished, hurling the golden clock at the Frenchman, who caught it easily and laughed.

"You think a clock can stop a time traveler?"

Robin grinned. "It's not going to stop you, just make you go. Because it's past time you left."

A chime echoed forth from the clock as it began to glow a brilliant gold. The light soon enveloped Warp, and it grew brighter as the supervillain screamed, forcing the heroes to cover their eyes. When they looked back, Warp was gone.

"Woah," Firewing breathed, amazed. "That. Was. So. Cool."

"Where'd you send him?" Nightstar asked.

"Far enough back in time that his tech shouldn't be able to find anymore temporal disturbances to piggyback off of for at least a millennium."

Laughing, the girl through her arms around Robin, who froze before he gently returned the hug. A flash made him up to see Nightwing standing there with Starfire and a Cyborg outfitted in new tech. The masked man took the picture out from the camera's slot and said, "Sorry it took us so long."

"Dad dad dad!" Firewing—simply Andy once more—exclaimed, zooming forwards. "We totally just beat the bad guy! You should've seen it; Mar'i was all 'uh-oh' and I was like 'bam' and Robin was like 'bye-bye'!"

Cyborg fell to his knees, his jaw slack as he stared at the destruction. "What happened to my tower?"

"Well, at least you don't have to fix the regulator," Robin tried to comfort him.

"Oh yeah!" Andy handed it over to the devastated man. "Here you go, Uncle Vic."

Nightstar pursed her lips. "Guess you have to go home now."

"Guess so. See you around, Nightstar."

"You can call me Mar'i now that the villain's gone, y'know."

"Yeah," Robin agreed with a smile, ruffling her hair once. "But you'll always be Nightstar to me."

Her lips finally quirked upwards at that, and Nightwing stepped forwards to hand Robin the photo he'd snapped. "So you don't forget," the man explained as Cyborg opened up the time portal.

He put it in one of the pockets of his belt. "Thanks. I'm looking forward to reaching this future."

"And reach it you shall," Star said, giving him a gentle hug (for her). "Good-bye, young Robin. Please wish me from the past well."

Andy bumped his fist. "See you again when I'm born. Try to practice up you're video games skills while you wait."

Laughing, he turned to go when he felt a hand grab his wrist. Robin glanced back at his future daughter, who told him, "Thanks for letting me be a hero, Dad."

"No problem, Starshine." [7]

Her eyes widened at the petname as he stepped through the portal, and Cyborg twisted his arm, sending a beam of light after him before it collapsed and disappeared. "What was that?" Nightstar asked.

"Something to keep the past intact," her father answered. "Now, are you ready for _me_ to let you be a hero again?"

A grin split the girl's face in two as she said, "Oh, definitely."

* * *

><p>Cyborg clasped Star's shoulder, making her jump, and told her, "He's gonna be fine, Starfire. They both are."<p>

Suddenly, the spot where the time vortex had been glowed white. The light quickly passed over them, sweeping across the bay and past the two Titans flying back to the Tower after handing Warp over to the authorities, reaching the villain himself as he smiled and detected in it another temporal disturbance he could use to escape. It traveled all throughout Jump City before it disappeared.

The police officer who'd been at the museum shook his head in confusion, looking down at Raven and Beast Boy's statements. He frowned at the name Nightstar, muttering, "I really need a vacation," as he corrected it to Starfire.

The cops driving the prison transport vehicle Warp had been in shook their heads as one inquired of the other, "What are we here doing again?"

On the roof of Titan's Tower stood Robin, Starfire, and Cyborg, who were soon joined by Beast Boy and Raven. "Why are you guys up on the roof?" asked Beast Boy.

"I—" Starfire hesitated, blinking. "We were waiting for you, I believe…"

"Yeah," Cyborg agreed. "You guys done talking to the police?"

Raven sighed. "The officer was pretty peeved that we didn't have a villain to turn over."

"The fault is mine; I did not know my kick would damage his technology so that he would vanish."

"Don't sweat it, Star," Robin finally spoke up, taking the redhead's hand. "The important part is that we beat the villain."

Cy clapped his hands together. "And that's cause for celebration! How's an early dinner sound?"

"Long as there's no meat, I'm game!"

"What's dinner without meat?"

"And here they go again," muttered the sorceress as Beast Boy began defending his vegetarian lifestyle. She followed the two arguing Titans out the door, leaving the couple alone on the roof.

The Tamaranean glanced at the other in concern. "Are you alright, Boyfriend Robin?"

"Yeah," he replied, giving her a warm kiss. "I'm fine. Let's go eat."

That night, as Robin was preparing for bed, he hung up his costume. Taking his belt, he began to restock his weapons when he came across a piece of paper stuffed into one of his spare pockets. It appeared to be a recently taken photo; the glossy image showed him in standing in a destroyed Ops Room being hugged by a girl wearing Star's outfit. She had the redhead's eyes but long curly black hair instead, and they were both smiling in the photo.

Confused, he turned it around, searching for a time stamp of some sort. Instead he found a note written in what looked like his own handwriting:

_If you ever want to meet this girl, don't train her until you take this picture. —NW_

Who was NW? And how the hell had he or she managed to stuff the photo into his belt? Flipping it back around, the unmasked Titan stared at the girl with narrowed eyes. Her hair was as dark as his; her eyes were as green as Starfire's. Indeed, she looked like—like a combination of them both."It can't be," he said aloud, but he carefully tucked the picture away into his secret safe, deciding to follow the mysterious NW's advice. After all, he didn't have a name to he could search for. Still, it wouldn't hurt to check out the database…

When Robin finally shut down his laptop and went to sleep, he dreamed of a baby girl born under a night sky, with big green eyes and a cap of dark curls and a smile that made the stars shine.

* * *

><p><strong>And that's that. What'd you guys think? This little glimpse into the future will hopefully become a different idea I have for a future story, once I get done with everything I wanna do with the Teen Titans. But now that we've seen a Titan's daughter, it's time to met a villain's in:<strong>

Episode Three: "Hello, Robin" - _Slade resurfaces with a new opponent for the Titans to face; however, it's not his apprentice_—it's his daughter.__

**Readers of the original comics probably know who's gonna appear. In the next episode we're getting into the main plot of season six. Stay tuned! ;)  
><strong>

* * *

><p>[1] The metal manica and plating is the same kind that covers Blackfire's arms, torso, and upper legs.<p>

[2] Reference to the episode "Birthmark"

[3] The left image in the picture "Starfire - Beyond" by deviantARTist ReverendTrigster is the future costume design I chose for Starfire. Check it out; it's beautiful artwork.

[4] Brownie points to whoever can guess the Titaness!

[5] Reference to a reference made in the episode "Crash"

[6] Since Starfire, Blackfire, and Wildfire all have the suffix "and'r" in their Tamaranean names, I deduced that it meant "fire", which means the first part of Star's name, "kori", means "star"; thus, I added it to my made-up Tamaranean word for night, "s'uru", to create "S'urukori", which means "Nightstar" in Tamaranean. By Andy calling his sister this, he is recognizing her as a hero.

[7] "Starshine" is the actual nickname Nightwing calls Nightstar by in the original comics, which is why she was surprised when Robin used it.


End file.
